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Indian Drone Violated Chinese Airspace Due to Technical Problem

08 December 2017

His visit will be the first by a top Chinese official to India after the Doklam crisis and the start of President Xi Jinping's second five-year term.

Hours after China claimed an Indian drone had "intruded" into its airspace and crashed in the Sikkim sector, which includes Doklam, Indian Army explained that a drone had indeed crossed over into Chinese territory after a technical problem and the neighbouring country's soldiers had been alerted in keeping with protocol. Beijing often referred to the 1890 Britain-China treaty during the lengthy Dokalam standoff, stating that it has defined the Sikkim section of the boundary with Tibet, therefore the border in that area has been settled. The confrontation was resolved on August 28.

India, however, said that the Chinese side was informed after the drone strayed into their territory. The source said the drone went missing earlier this week, but the exact date of the incident was not revealed. Ministry of Defense has given a reply regarding this issue saying that it was because there was a loss of signal and the contact from the ground control was lost.

"As far as our northern adversary is concerned, flexing of muscles has started", General Bipin Rawat said at a think tank event in New Delhi, in reference to China. "The matter is being dealt with in accordance with the established protocols through institutional mechanisms to deal with situations along the Indo-China border areas", a Ministry of Defence statement read.

Asked if the incident will have a negative impact on the bilateral meet, Geng said: "I think Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit's goal is to attend the foreign ministers' meeting".